Fredy slowly lifted his head.
The faint sound he heard earlier echoed again.
Thwip.
Something landed lightly on the rooftop edge above the alley.
Fredy already knew who it was.
Still, seeing him in person felt surreal.
A figure crouched there casually, wearing the iconic red-and-blue suit.
White eye lenses stared down at him curiously.
Spider-Man
Spider-Man tilted his head.
"Well… that was new."
Fredy didn't panic.
Inside, however, his thoughts were racing.
Of course he would show up.
New York was Spider-Man's territory.
A street fight involving strange shadow monsters would definitely attract attention.
Spider-Man jumped down from the rooftop and landed smoothly a few meters away.
"Okay," he said, raising his hands slightly. "Before we continue this awkward staring contest, I feel like I should ask…"
He pointed at the shadow soldier standing beside Fredy.
"…what exactly is that?"
Shade stood silently behind Fredy like a dark statue.
Fredy crossed his arms calmly.
"My pet."
Spider-Man blinked.
"Your… pet."
"Yes."
Spider-Man looked at Shade again.
The glowing blue eyes.
The body made entirely of darkness.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and say that's the creepiest pet I've ever seen."
Fredy shrugged.
Spider-Man stepped closer, examining the unconscious criminals on the ground.
"Well, good news," he said. "You definitely saved that woman."
He pointed at the thugs.
"Bad news is… breaking three guys like that usually means paperwork."
Fredy raised an eyebrow.
"Are you here to arrest me?"
Spider-Man laughed.
"Whoa, no. That's more of a police thing."
He paused for a moment.
Then he gestured toward Shade again.
"But seriously… what is that thing?"
Fredy looked at his shadow soldier.
"A summon."
Spider-Man's mask tilted.
"Okay, that clears up absolutely nothing."
Fredy smirked slightly.
Spider-Man rubbed the back of his head.
"Look, I'm not trying to start a fight."
He pointed at the alley.
"You stopped criminals. That's good."
Then his tone became slightly serious.
"But New York already has a lot of weird stuff happening. Alien invasions, robots, guys in flying metal suits…"
He leaned slightly closer.
"So when someone new shows up with a shadow monster army, I kinda need to ask questions."
Fredy remained silent.
Inside his mind, the system suddenly appeared.
[System Notification]
Hidden Quest Triggered
Observe and evaluate: Spider-Man
Reward: 200 EXP
Fredy blinked slightly.
A quest?
Interesting.
Fredy looked back at Spider-Man.
"You talk a lot."
Spider-Man shrugged.
"Occupational hazard."
For a moment, both of them simply stared at each other.
Then Spider-Man asked:
"So… do you have a name?"
Fredy thought for a second.
He couldn't reveal too much.
But hiding everything would be suspicious.
"Fredy."
Spider-Man nodded.
"Nice to meet you, Fredy. I'm—"
"Spider-Man."
Spider-Man froze.
"…Okay, yeah, that was obvious."
Fredy glanced at the unconscious criminals.
"You came to stop them?"
Spider-Man shrugged again.
"Yeah, but you beat me to it."
He looked at Fredy carefully now.
"You moved really fast."
Fredy didn't answer.
Spider-Man crossed his arms.
"Enhanced strength, weird shadow powers, creepy summon…"
He leaned forward slightly.
"Are you a mutant?"
Fredy shook his head.
"No."
"Alien?"
"No."
"Magic?"
Fredy paused.
"Maybe."
Spider-Man sighed.
"Yeah… that tracks. New York has a lot of magic problems lately."
Shade suddenly moved slightly behind Fredy.
Spider-Man immediately tensed.
"Okay—see—that's exactly what I mean. That thing moving when I'm not expecting it is very unsettling."
Fredy chuckled quietly.
Then he turned toward the street.
"I'm leaving."
Spider-Man quickly stepped forward.
"Hold on."
Fredy stopped.
Spider-Man pointed toward the city skyline.
"You planning to keep doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Beating criminals."
Fredy looked back at him.
"Maybe."
Spider-Man nodded slowly.
"Well… if you are…"
He pointed at Shade.
"Maybe keep the nightmare monster part to a minimum."
Fredy smiled slightly.
"No promises."
Then he started walking away.
Shade followed silently behind him like a living shadow.
Spider-Man watched him disappear into the night.
After a moment, he muttered to himself.
"Great."
"New mysterious shadow guy in Queens."
He looked up toward the skyline.
"I should probably tell someone about this…"
Far away…
Inside a hidden facility…
Multiple surveillance screens suddenly lit up.
A bald man wearing a long coat watched the footage of the alley fight carefully.
One of the agents spoke.
"Sir, this unidentified individual just appeared on our radar."
The man's single eye narrowed slightly.
Nick Fury
Nick Fury folded his arms.
"A shadow creature…"
"Enhanced strength…"
He stared at Fredy's image on the screen.
"Keep watching him."
"Anyone who suddenly gains powers in New York…"
"…is never just a coincidence."